1 . Even now, I have vivid memories of my last day of high school. In my mind’s eye, I’m cleaning out my locker, and then staring at the emptiness for a few extra beats before slamming it shut for the last time. I’m roaming the halls with my best friend, blissfully ignoring the bells going off every 50 minutes on schedule because, just today, we’re allowed to break the rules. I’m sitting on my desk, swinging my feet, and shooting the breeze (闲聊) with my English teacher, Mr. Carr, in a way that makes me feel almost grown up.

It was maybe my favorite day of the whole year. Like the final layer of watercolor, the freedom and lightness I feel seeps (渗透) into the rest of my memories of that day and turns them just a shade rosier.

If the school year hasn’t yet ended for you, consider what you can do to make the finale count. Why? Because when it comes to human memory, not all moments are created equal. Instead, our remembered experiences are disproportionately (不成比例地) influenced by peaks(the best moments as well as the worst)and endings (the last moments). Nobel Prize winner Danny Kahneman, who discovered this phenomenon, called this the peak-end rule. It suggests that our judgment of a past experience is largely based on its most extreme point and its endpoint.

I took advantage of the peak-end rule years ago, when my girls were young enough to want a bedtime story each night. I remember thinking that whatever strife (冲突) and stress had occurred that day, I could make the last moments count. I could end on a note of calm and act like the patient mom I hadn’t quite managed to be just hours before.

Don’t mistake all moments as equal in significance. There’s a reason why yoga classes end with savasana (挺卧式). There’s a reason we eat dessert last. Do orchestrate (精心安排) endings. As Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll might say: Finish strong. Last impressions are especially lasting.

1. What does the underlined word in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Calmly.	B．Surprisingly.
C．Happily.	D．Curiously.

2. Which statement is true about the peak-end rule?

A．Peaks in life can be remembered better than endings.

B．The last moments matter the most in our memories.

C．Our judgment of the past is determined by first impressions.

D．The peaks and ends of experiences are easier to remember.

3. What is paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．How the author applied the rule to daily life.

B．How the author treated her daughters.

C．What struggles the author had in life.

D．Why the author read stories to her kids.

4. Why is Pete Carroll mentioned in the last paragraph?

A．To prove the peak-end rule can be used in sports.

B．To encourage readers to value the last moments of an experience.

C．To explain why last impressions are lasting.

D．To show the importance of doing sports.

2 . Beyond the classroom, the US provides various job opportunities that allow students to gain practical experience, earn income and enhance their skill sets. Here are some of the diverse employment avenues available for international students while attending university in the US.

On-campus employment

Many US universities offer on-campus employment opportunities for international students, providing a convenient and accessible way to earn income while pursuing their studies. These positions may include roles in libraries, administrative offices, student centers, or even research assistantships within academic departments. On-campus employment is typically limited to 20 hours per week during the academic year, allowing students to balance work and study commitments.

Off-campus employment

Off-campus employment opportunities are also available, although with certain restrictions. The two primary categories of off-campus employment are optional practical training (OPT)and curricular practical training (CPT). OPT allows students to work in their field of study for up to 12 months (or 24 months for STEM fields)after graduation, providing valuable real-world experience. CPT, on the other hand, permits students to engage in practical training directly related to their academic program while still attending their university.

Internships and cooperative programs

Many US universities have robust internship and cooperative education programs that connect students with industry partners. These programs offer international students the chance to apply classroom knowledge in professional settings, fostering skill development and industry connections. Internships, whether paid or unpaid, are valuable stepping stones that often lead to full-time employment opportunities after graduation.

Research assistantships

For students pursuing advanced degrees, research assistantships provide a unique opportunity to work closely with faculty on cutting-edge research projects. These positions not only contribute to academic and professional growth but also offer financial backing. Research assistantships can be found in various disciplines, including science, engineering, social sciences and humanities.

1. What sets On-campus employment apart from other job opportunities?

A．It is available before graduation.

B．Its work time is no more than 20 hours every week.

C．It can help students earn money and pursue their studies.

D．It provides cutting-edge research projects.

2. Which of the following can pave the way for students’ full-time employment?

A．On-campus employment.	B．Off-campus employment.
C．Internships.	D．Cooperative programs.

3. What can Research assistantships provide for international students?

A．A university degree.	B．Industry connection.
C．Real-world experience.	D．Financial support.

3 . Physicist and Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman developed a clever learning method known as the Feynman Technique. It involves explaining what you're learning to others. By teaching what you’ve learned from memory, you engage in active recall.     1     It also ensures that you understand the topic, because you can only explain an idea if you truly understand it. The technique consists of four repeatable steps.

To begin, choose a concept or topic you wish to fully understand.     2     The more interested you are, the faster you’ll grasp it. Moreover, a personally interesting topic will keep you motivated and engaged.

    3     Write notes and explain it in a way that makes sense to a five-year-old. If you’d rather avoid actually teaching someone, you can just teach it to an imaginary audience. But it works much better if you use a real person. They’ll be able to let you know when something isn’t clear.

While teaching you may discover gaps in your understanding.     4     Review your notes, reread books, or seek external help to ensure you have a complete understanding of the context before moving forward.

Now that you fully grasp the concept, test your understanding by trying to teach it to another person. This will help you identify any remaining areas of uncertainty you need to revisit.

The Feynman Technique is a great way for kids and grown-ups to learn.     5     You need to actively think about the problem instead of passively reading or listening to someone else. However, with great efforts in mastering this method, you’ll see your learning results improve quicker than ever before.

A．It is mentally demanding.

B．This helps the information stick in your mind better.

C．Teach it to a five-year-old, who would give you direct feedback.

D．Your curiosity about it will determine the pace of your learning.

E．Once you have chosen a topic, you can teach it to someone else.

F．Active engagement plays a key role in promoting deeper learning.

G．When this happens, refer back to the original material for the missing pieces.

4 . Imagine that on a Friday afternoon, before leaving work to start your weekend, you are asked to solve two problems that require creative thinking. Do you: 1). Spend the first half of your time attempting the first problem and the second half of your time attempting the second; 2). Alternate between the two problems at a regular, predetermined interval (e.g., switching every five minutes); 3). Switch between the problems at your own discretion (自行决定).

If you are like the hundreds of people to whom we posed this question, you would choose to switch between the two problems at your own discretion. After all, this approach offers maximum autonomy and flexibility, enabling you to change tracks from one problem to the other when you feel stuck.

But if coming up with creative answers is your goal, this approach may not be ideal. Instead, switching between the problems at a regular, predetermined interval will likely yield the best results, according to research we published in the March issue of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.

In an experiment, we randomly assigned participants to one of the three approaches. Participants who were instructed to continually switch back and forth between two problems at a fixed interval were significantly more likely to find the correct answer to both problems than participants who switched at their own discretion or halfway through the allotted time. The issue with both other approaches seemed to be that people failed to recognize when rigid thinking crept in. Participants who didn’t step away from a task at regular intervals were more likely to write “new” ideas that were very similar to the last one they had written. While they might have felt that they were on a roll, the reality was that, without the breaks afforded by continual task switching, their actual progress was limited.

The findings suggest that the hustle and bustle of your daily work life may facilitate your creativity if it leads you to step away from a task and reset your thinking.

So when you’re working on tasks that would benefit from creative thinking, consciously insert breaks at regular intervals—use a timer if you have to. When it goes off, switch tasks: Organize your receipts, check your email, or clean your desk, and then return to the original task. If you’re hesitant to break away because you feel that you’re on a roll, be mindful that it might be a false impression. We tend to generate redundant ideas when we don’t take regular breaks; ask yourself whether your latest ideas are qualitatively different. Finally, don’t skip your lunch breaks, and don’t feel guilty about taking breaks, especially when you are feeling stuck. Doing so may actually be the best use of your time.

1. The third approach in Paragraph 1 is favored because people believe _______.

A．it allows much freedom

B．it improves concentration

C．it facilitates autonomous learning

D．it encourages independent thinking

2. What does the underlined word “rigid” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．critical

B．innovative

C．inflexible

D．serious

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Doing daily chores is key to generating new ideas.

B．Regularly scheduled breaks can refresh people’s thinking.

C．People will automatically take breaks when they feel stuck.

D．People will make great progress when they work continually.

4. The main purpose of the passage is to _______.

A．explain why people fail to produce creative ideas

B．compare three methods of creative thinking

C．introduce a new study on work efficiency

D．present a way to boost creative thinking

5 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。

It’s 5 p.m., and you’ve just realized that report you’ve been putting off is due tomorrow. It’s time to buckle down and open your computer. Actually, you should probably make dinner first. You usually like cooking, though it’s hard to enjoy with this work hanging over your head, and oh—it’s actually pretty late! Maybe you should just try again in the morning. This is the cycle of procrastination, and I promise you, we have all been there.

Procrastination is when we avoid a task we said we would do, for no good reason, despite expecting our behavior to bring negative consequences. Obviously, it’s irrational to do something you expect to harm you. But ironically, procrastination is the result of our bodies trying to protect us, specifically by avoiding a task we see as threatening.

We’re most likely to procrastinate tasks that evoke negative feelings, such as dread, incompetence, and insecurity. Because procrastination is motivated by our negative feelings, some individuals are more susceptible (易受影响的) to it than others. People who have difficulty regulating their emotions and those who struggle with low self-esteem are much more likely to procrastinate. However, it’s a common misconception that all procrastinators are lazy. When you’re feeling lazy, you’re more likely to sit around doing nothing than distract yourself with unimportant tasks. In fact, many people procrastinate because they care too much. Procrastinators often report a high fear of failure, putting things off because they’re afraid their work won’t live up to their high standards.

Whatever the reason for procrastination, the results are often the same. Procrastinators are likely to suffer from anxiety and depression, ongoing feelings of shame and physical ailments (轻病) associated with high stress.

So, how can we break the cycle of procrastination?

Traditionally, people thought procrastinators needed to cultivate discipline and practice strict time management. But today, many researchers feel the exact opposite. Being too hard on yourself can layer additional bad emotions onto a task. What we really need to do is to address and reduce these negative emotions.

1. What is procrastination?
_____________________________________________
2. What kinds of people are more likely to procrastinate?
_____________________________________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Ø Procrastinators are affected by negative emotions, are all lazy and are likely to suffer from physical ailments associated with high stress.
_____________________________________________
4. What strategies can you use to break the cycle of procrastination in your daily life? (In about 40 words)
_____________________________________________

6 . Amid rolling farms and green pasture 150 miles northwest of Sao Paulo, Brazil, two tropical forests bloom as one. The first consists of a single species, row after row of non-native eucalyptus (桉树), planted in perfect lines like carrots. The other is haphazard, an assortment of dozens of varieties of native saplings.

There’s no denying it: This forest looks ridiculous. The gangly (修长的) eucalyptuses shoot like witch fingers high above patches of stubby fig (矮壮的无花果树) and evergreen trees. Yet these jumbled 2.5-acre stands of native trees, ringed by fast-growing exotics, are among many promising efforts to resurrect the planet’s forests.

The eucalyptuses, says Pedro Brancalion, the University of Sao Paulo agronomist who designed this experiment, get big so quickly they can be cut after five years and sold to make paper or fence posts. That covers nearly half or more of the cost of planting the slow-growing native trees, which then naturally reseed ground that has been laid bare by the harvest. And this process doesn’t hamper natural regeneration.

You needn’t look far these days to find organizations trying to save the world by growing trees. Too often, tree-planting groups are so focused on getting credit for each seedling planted that they ignore what matters most: What kind of woodland is created? At what cost? And most importantly: How long will it last? Using the numbers of trees planted as a magic “proxy for everything,” Brancalion says, you “spend more money and get lower levels of benefits.” You can literally miss the forest for the trees.

Tree planting seems like a simple, natural way to counter the overwhelming crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. Trees provide wildlife habitats and slurp carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. No wonder trees are hailed as the ideal weapon. Yet for every high-profile planting operation, devastating failures have occurred. In Turkey, Sri Lanka, and Mexico, mass plantings have resulted in millions of dead seedlings or have driven farmers to clear more intact forest elsewhere. Trees that have been planted in the wrong places have reduced water yields for farmers, destroyed highly diverse carbon-sucking grassland soils, and allowed for invasive vegetation to spread. Simply reforesting the planet isn’t going to do much if we don’t also start cutting down on our emissions from the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas. Tree planting also can’t replace old-growth forests. Saving them is even more important than growing new forests.

So, what should we do?

To Brancalion, the answer is obvious: Restore native forests, mostly in the tropics, where trees grow fast and land is cheap. While that may require planting, it may also call for the clearing out of invasive grasses, the rejuvenation (使有活力) of soils, and crop yield improvements so that farmers will need less land for agriculture and more can be allowed to revert back to forests.

The combining of eucalyptus harvests with native plantings is just one more reminder that successful restoration must provide value to local communities. In many cases, if we let nature do the heavy lifting, Brancalion says, “the forest can regrow quite effectively.”

1. What can we learn from the first three paragraphs?

A．The non-native eucalyptuses bring profits that can pay for planting native saplings.

B．The non-native eucalyptuses compete with native saplings for water, nutrients, and light.

C．The variety of trees being planted determines whether or not the restoration will succeed.

D．Planting fast-growing exotics together with local trees does harm to the natural environment.

2. The example of mass plantings in Turkey, Sri Lanka, and Mexico is used to _______.

A．emphasize the significance of protecting existing forests

B．explain why tree planting is regarded as the ideal solution

C．illustrate the serious problems planting campaigns can cause

D．indicate the most important point tree-planting groups ignore

3. According to the author, we should do all the following EXCEPT _______.

A．clear more forest to improve crop yields for farmers

B．combine harvests of fast-growing exotics with native plantings

C．restore native forests in the tropics and clear out invasive grasses

D．take into consideration the benefits of reforestation to local communities

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A．Plant trees—and time will tell.	B．Plant trees—but don’t overdo it.
C．Plant trees—and save the world.	D．Plant trees—but mind the variety.

7 . 阅读短文，在空白处填入适当的内容或括号内单词的正确形式。

More than 5 million shared bikes on the Chinese mainland are using positioning and navigation services     1     are provided by the country’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System. These shared bikes have been equipped     2     domestically developed Beidou-based positioning chips. These chips feature high accuracy and sensitivity, and low power consumption, which allow for an easier management for city authorities. Since June 2020, 59 Beidou satellites, including the first four experimental ones,     3     (lift) on the Long March 3-series rockets from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province.

8 . While I was in hospital for a heart surgery, something affected me and made me do something meaningful. Before my surgery, my doctor showed me a video, in which there were patients like me and they each had a heart pillow, so I decided I would get one.

Right after my _______, I asked about the heart pillow. Unluckily, I was told they didn’t offer it but it could be _______ at the hospital gift shop. So my daughter bought one for me. It was comfortable and became my “security blanket”. However I was _______ that many patients couldn’t get that comfort. So I took this whole mission upon myself. I called various hospitals to find out what they used for patients after heart surgeries. I also found a site _______ that the cloth pillows were considered dangerous because it might spread bacteria to patients. I _______ understood, but that didn’t stop my mission. I continued to call the manufacturers. Finally, a lady called back and told me about the heart pillow that they had produced, which could be _______ and disinfected (消毒).

I did all my _______ so that no one could think of a reason why this wouldn’t work. It took me over a month to be able to meet with the hospital authorities to _______ my finding. I’m glad that they agreed and are _____ getting these pillows for patients. I cannot be ________— I actually did something that will help many patients.

1.

A．operation

B．experiment

C．search

D．checkup

2.

A．examined

B．purchased

C．allowed

D．observed

3.

A．satisfied

B．upset

C．scared

D．grateful

4.

A．hoping

B．complaining

C．stating

D．promising

5.

A．secretly

B．suddenly

C．currently

D．totally

6.

A．washed

B．abandoned

C．repaired

D．packed

7.

A．essay

B．homework

C．practice

D．magic

8.

A．grab

B．trace

C．present

D．return

9.

A．depending on

B．carrying on

C．insisting on

D．working on

10.

A．happier

B．calmer

C．wiser

D．luckier

9 . 词义匹配

A. a condition in which a person or community is doing well; especially economic well-being. B. to gradually get more and more of something over a period of time. C. to prevent someone from showing that emotion or doing what they wanted or intended to do. D. unclear or confusing; can be understood in more than one way. E. to gain complete control or victory over something or someone./ to have a strong emotional effect on somebody F. to speak suddenly, loudly, or emphatically (断然地), often because the speakers are excited, shocked, or angry. G. involving the use of natural products and energy in a way that does not harm the environment/that can continue or be continued for a long time H. to change something slightly, usually in order to improve it I. at the same time. J. to look like or be similar to another person or thing.

1. ambiguous
2. simultaneously
3. sustainable
4. prosperity
5. resemble
6. overwhelm
7. restrain
8. modify
9. accumulate
10. exclaim

10 . 词义匹配

A. something does not occur naturally and is created by human beings, often using science or technology. B. to make something happen faster or earlier. C. something that is neither very good, large, hot, etc. nor very bad, small, cold, etc. D. used to show that something is almost, but not completely, accurate or correct. /It is similar to sth. but is not exactly the same. E. reduce the level of land, as by erosion. /to make something become worse, especially in quality F. be doubtful about sth. G. something that helps somebody/something to develop better or more quickly H. viewpoint/ the attitude towards something; a way of thinking about something I. to prevent them from entering it or taking part in it; deliberately do not use it or consider J. many in number; involving many different people or things

1. approximately
2. artificial
3. degrade
4. multiple
5. accelerate
6. perspective
7. skeptical
8. exclude
9. stimulus
10. moderate